Story Books: Book 1: New Leaves
by R.M. Sullen
Summary: Another year has passed on Victoria Island, and many of the Heroes of Yesterday have retired. Meet and journey with eight young aspiring adventurers who are destined for adventure, peril, and encounters that will change and bond them like nothing else.
1. Chapter 1

The phone in the Central Office rang, the receiver vibrating a little as the internal bell mechanism chimed on. The phone rang for about two minutes, the two-second ring repeating over and over, never missing its rhythmic pattern for a second. Slowly, quite slowly, Rene walked up to the desk on which the phone sat. A scowl crossed her face, the only visible feature of her hooded head; the rest of her face was covered in shadow from her hood. Her scowl was directed at Tylus, the Warrior Job Instructor; there he sat at the desk, feet propped up on the hard cherry-wood work-station, fast asleep as the phone rang quite loudly right next to him. Rene picked the receiver off of the antique-looking phone and said, in a surprisingly light-hearted yet firm tone "Hello? Chief's Residence, Central Office."

"You have to help us! Whoever this is, alert the Instructors that we have a situation on our hands, you have to help us! Please, help!" The voice on the other end did indeed sound distressed; it sounded as if the speaker on the other end of the line was in a crowd of people, with loud bangs and crashes going off. Still in her docile yet firm tone, Rene responded. "You will have to calm down if you want me to understand this 'situation' as you put it. Now tell me, slowly, what has happened to…" but she was interrupted by the other person. Screaming at the top of their lungs, the hysterical caller broke out. "Look, just send the Instructors to the outskirts of village! We don't have much time left! They are almost into the village!" Rene now seemed concerned; the outskirts of the village are usually well protected by Travelers and Adventurers entering and exiting the village-this couldn't be a raid by rogue Adventurers, could it? "I need more information. Please, who is almost in the village?" Suddenly the line went dead, and all of the candles that lit the Residence blew out. Static filled the phone and semi-darkness consumed the Residence.

"Hello? Hello…ugh, line's dead. Of all of the times for the lines to go dead, the candles' wicks to burn out, and the sun to be setting…there goes a perfectly good evening to do noth…" Her voice was interrupted by a loud explosion that seemed to come from just past the Frozen Gazebo near Scadur's home. A series of smaller, less rattling explosions followed the first one. Loud screams and yells could be heard breaking through the mysterious chaos and still-winter air. After about the fifth tremor Tylus finally awoke, a grumpy "Whatheheck is going on here?" escaping his throat. "I don't know," Rene said in earnest, "but I don't think it's good." She looked at Tylus and scowled again, a sinister air in her voice. "Oh, and this is for making me leave my bed!" She summoned her staff to her hand from the weapons rack and brought it down across Tylus's head. "OW! What did I do? I can't take a nap?!" He shot out of his seat, forgetting his feet were still on the table, and toppled backwards. Rene couldn't help but give a small smile at the self-inflicted punishment of his brash behavior.

As Tylus rose to his feet, unsheathing his sword and using it as a stabilizer so he could regain his footing, the door swung open to the residence. An unusually cold draft burst into the building, the fire in the fire place being extinguished. In rushed Arec, followed by Robeira and Alcaster trailing behind. Arec was the first to speak. "It's a mess out there! El Nath is being invaded by the area's local monsters, along with some old loathsome fiends! The monsters have already pushed past our outer ring and are pushing closer into the center of the town!" "They came out of no-where, just pushed past our Spell of Sealing perimeter as if it didn't exist!" Alcaster chimed in. Robeira looked detested at Tylus and Rene. "Did you not HEAR those explosions outside?! Why did you not go out and investigate these happenings? Did you not receive the call I instructed that villager to send you? Forget it! Just get out, we need help forcing these creatures back!"

As they stepped outside, it was apparent that a battle was raging in the small, icy village. The air was heavy with smoke and the smell of metal, elemental magic and blood. The smoke was issuing from a small mill where hay, grain, and oil were being store-housed; when the monsters entered the town, they destroyed the mill, setting it on fire. This had caused the initial explosion that racked the whole town. All around there were Adventurers of all classes battling to save the town, skills flashing and banging as they and the monsters engaged in combat. Alcaster was told to retreat back into the center of the defense force, doing whatever he could to enhance everyone in range. Each instructor split off into a corner of the ever-tightening inner-circle of resistance; they bustled to the front lines and started hacking, shooting and casting away at the invasion force. Hundreds of Lightning Bolts and Lightning Spears filled the air with a tingle as they singed Yeti flesh; Fire Arrows burned Lycan fur and Poison filled the air; green light filled the bodies of those who were in range of the many clerics in the area; spears penetrated Werewolves as their tips became the bright blue heads of dragons, entering their lupine bodies in bursts of three; enormous bangs from small purses of trap-charged money filled the air, and shadow-quick slashes tore open the White Pangs; stars and arrows whizzed through the air, falling like rain and flowing like a stream of steel; sickening "thwack" sounds came from the blunt bludgeoning and smashing weapons of the White Knights, and swords sang in a high ring as they sliced into any and every thing within sight by sword-wielding warriors. The circle kept closing, but there was still enough room for the Instructors to move about quite freely to certain spots on the front line. As the spells and weapons of these Greats did their duty to defend the town, time passed by in seemingly unreal slowness. Hours passed, and more monsters kept pouring into the town from no-one know where.

The circle had not lost any footing for the past half hour, and many people had gone so far in slaying as to level up in that time span; but now elixirs and potions were depleted, many were at the breaking point of giving up and trying to escape, and now death started befalling the less advanced fighters. One after one, the repelling force fell victim to the massively overwhelming force that kept pressing in. No one could get to the potions shop, as it was crawling with beasts, though it had not been broken into. The town residents (aside from Vogen, Scadur, Mr. Mohammed, and Master Sergeant Fox) were advised to lock their shops and homes up or make it to the Chief's Residence if possible. Eureck had recently left for Victoria Island as she was called to Henesys by Chief Stan due to Maya's worsening condition (i.e. a persistant, non-threatening cold that was just really awful). This prevented all hope of any potions being produced, as not even Alcaster could produce such potions without ingredients. Just as all hope seemed lost, and more Maplers fell prey to the monsters, a loud, booming "CHAAARGE!" was heard from the north-eastern edge of the village. There, on the outskirts of town stood Jeff, a big, confident grin on his face. From just over the hill poured almost 200 Adventurers, surging around Jeff, all sooty and dirty, but 100 healthy none-the-less. Just behind the last person walked Glibber, holding his tray of potions. "I sell potions to them, huh? I think I'll turn over a massive profit!" He ran to the mass of people yelling "Potions? Potions? Potions!"

Within ten minutes the invasion had successfully been neutralized. Everyone in town (who was still able to move) threw their fists in the air and cheered, giving three cheers special to Jeff. Just as everyone was about to disband, a loud explosion was heard over-head, like an enormous gun firing. All heads craned upward to see what had caused the explosion.

As all focus was turned to the sky, a small, green, troll-like man poked his long-nosed head out of the Residence doorway. Shammos had waited for an opportunity like this for so long he couldn't even remember when it was he was first imprisoned. His long, spindly fingers curled out from behind the door frame, his eyes shooting back and forth. Slowly, he stuck one foot out into the ice snow, and scanned the area once again. He took his other foot, lifted it with strain, and lightly laid the ball and chain down before placing his foot down, to avoid making any rattling noises. He was about to move again when another loud explosion startled him, making him retreat a little into the doorway. After a few seconds, he felt placated enough that everyone was too in-awe to notice him. He took three steps, and broke into a frenzied run. He had gotten no further than four meters when a large, solid shadow shot past him and adamantly placed itself in front of him; Shammos crashed into it, cursed a few times, looked up and saw Arec, his frown the only thing visible under the shade of the hood. "And where does our guest think he is going, hmmm?" Shammos quivered violently, knowing what was about to happen all to well. "I…" was about all he could get out before Arec whirled around and landed a heavy kick to Shammoses face. As Shammos flew backward, and was just in front of the door once more, Arec moved at lightning speed next to the still air-borne Shammos, assaulted him with another blow, and knocked him into the residence. Shammos was dazed, and Arec entered the building. Picking him up by his neck, Arec threw Shammos back down into his holding area in the basement, and raided the ladder up to prevent further attempts. When he went back outside he stood next to Robeira. "Another escape attempt by Shammos, it seems. Did he REALLY think we did not notice him sneaking out?" She inquired. A simple "it seems that way" was all that Arec cared to say. Robeira sighed. "Pity."


	2. Destinies Chap 2: Enter Erica

She sat, still as stone, staring down her opponent. Her face was set in an adamant frown, her azure eyes burning with fire like a well-cut sapphire. Her long blonde hair fell in front of her eyes, and her overall visage was almost tomato red from the strain of maintaining this facade. Ever so slowly, her hand crept up from her lap, reaching for her weapon.

"Oh, no you don't!" screamed her fiendish foe. His hand was already on his armament, and he quickly raised it to strike the target. When she saw him going for the kill she took no longer, quickly getting her weapon and meeting his in a deadlock directly on the goal.

"You are such a little brat!" she shouted at her little brother, her face regaining its usual tawny-peach complexion. "Yeah, well you are a fat fat-head!" He stuck out his tongue at her. They traded insults at each other as their forks battled furiously for the last piece of bacon on the serving dish. "Mine!" "No, MINE!" Neither one would give an inch; total surrender was out of the question.

Their mother stood at the stove, sipping coffee and shaking her head as this daily routine commenced. Their father was reading the sports page of _The Perion Patriot _and didn't seem to notice the rather noisy row going on either side of him. He sipped his coffee and frowned to himself behind the paper. "C'mon! The Wild Boars are behind this season…we never beat the Orbis Angels! Even Ellenia is ahead of us!"

Their mother spoke in an agitated tone. "William, your sister is leaving here today and will be gone a very long time…" She turned around to pretend to wash her coffee mug out in the sink to hide a few tears; she never let her voice crack as she continued. "…so give her the last piece of bacon. Don't be spoiled."

She cheered and jeered at him, sticking her tongue out at in mockery; she even got up out of her chair and danced. "Yeah, _Billy_, I need my energy for my VERY important trip. Read it and weep, kid!" She danced around in her socks and baggy Pink Teddy print pajama pants, her oversized white nightshirt sliding a bit down her shoulder.

After about ten seconds of victory-celebration she sat down, confidently reached for her fork, slammed it down into the serving dish, and brought it to her mouth; through this whole motion she kept her eyes closed to saver the moment. She brought her teeth slamming down expecting bacon-what she got was four very sore front teeth. The bacon was not there.

Her eyes began to tear up, and she slammed the fork on the table. "You little punk!" Her mother started up. "Watch your language, honey," she said in a firm tone. "Sorry mom…why you little brat, I'll show you why they call me 'The Bull Dozer' around here!" She was rolling up her already-short sleeve when her brother began to talk. "It wasn't me, sis! I swear! It was him!" He pointed at their father.

Sure enough, pinched between his thumb and index finger was the bacon; he seemed to not have heard the argument, and took the bacon simply because it was there. He had already taken a rather big bite out of it.

"Oh, Herbert…" He looked up and craned his neck in her direction. "You say something, Margaret?" He gazed at her for a second, then turned back to the table. He could see a smirk on William's face, and a look of something of a mix of utter disappointment and pure disbelief on his daughters; her eyes were fixed on the thin strip of pork.

He looked at it and back to her. "Heh…want the rest?" She rolled her eyes back up into her head, thumped back into her seat, and sulked. Billy had a good laugh at her expense. Their mother started up once more. "Alright you two, get upstairs and get dressed, we will be leaving in forty-five minutes. I'll wash dishes in the mean time. Well…get going!" They ran upstairs, still arguing about the now-gone bacon.

Her small sack of things, things she would need for her two-day trip, was packed and ready. She stood over her bed, staring blankly at the sepia-tarnished picture of her family that her father had taken with a cheap, '60's-something on antique-like camera so he wouldn't have to spend 2,000 mesos digital camera. Old looking (though only a month in actual age) and yellowed it sat, ironically, in a picture frame made of rather expensive Mahogany wood.

She wouldn't need it, as her father ended up buying a digital camera _anyway_; this was due to the former somehow spontaneously combusting, leaving a peculiar, sulfurous smell lingering in the house for months. Her father, thus, was not allowed to buy any more "antique toys" which were to be used as a replacement for modern-era equipment. This allowed her to leave the framed family picture on the nightstand next to her bed, and take a small, plastic framed and digital one in it's place.

She finally sat down on her soft, springy bed. She stared around her room blankly. It was tiny, though neat and tidy. So many memories and feelings flooded her that she almost began to cry; no, not her, not this girl! She never cried; nothing made her cry. But, this one time, her efforts to hold back her tears were a failed attempt. For the first time since she was five years old, she began to cry. The realization had hit her that it was all about to change-and to think, this all happened because of a dare gone wrong (or in her case, though she could not foresee it, right.)

She had been known from age nine as "The Bull Dozer," a name that was usually reserved to the most rough-and-tumble boys. Growing up a farm-girl in the small province of Marckhion in Siorid Valley, she had been well known in her school as a defender of the weak and a bully at the same time. She was quite bright, and was usually ahead of every other student in the class by at least a full year of education in terms of her knowledge. She usually was suspended from school for fighting, mischief, and general lack of interest in school; however, the faculty-especially the principal-couldn't seem to find any reason to keep her out of the school for more than a day, and usually called her parents to tell them have her ready for school the next day, which usually pissed her off. She was looking forward to three days of freedom.

As she matured, an even more stubborn but friendly nature took root in her personality. She lost her impulse to bully people, and felt a strong need to give people "what's coming to them." She made more friends, began to take an interest in school (even though she effortlessly made A's and could actually TEACH most of the subjects) and even began to show-off her farm-made strength, fearlessness and physique as she became an adolescent. She encouraged anyone to take her on; this lead to her current situation of leaving her home. But that is a story for a later chapter.

William stuck his head around the doorframe into his sisters without knocking, a common action he developed to specifically annoy his sister. "Hurry up, mom sai..." He cut short when he saw his sister on the bed, tears streaming from her eyes and cheeks red with the strain of trying to hold back more. "What...what's wrong," he asked as he walked into her room and sat down beside her on the bed. "Nothing, nothing's wrong. It's just...it's...I...I...I'm going to MISS YOU ALL SO MUCH!" She threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly. She broke down and began to bawl uncontrollably, gasping loudly between sobs. Her brother was turning a little purple.

"Sis, you're...choking...me... uncomfortable," he managed to choke out in broken spasms. She looked at him, giggled a bit, and released him. Her momentary smile soon sunk back into a disheartening gaze. "Awww, it'll be alright! I mean, we'll all miss ya, too, but everyone here is rooting for you. They WANT you to take this up! Not just for the name of our town, but for OUR family-for YOUR future! That's what Mom says..." She looked up at him, and a smile returned to her face once more. "Who said you could come in my room, BRAT? Get out!" She jumped off the bed, stood with her back arched, and pointed to the door. Her brother got up and stomped to the door. Just as he exited, she said his name. "And Billy...thanks." Then she slammed the door behind him. "Tell Mom I'll be dressed and ready to go in 5 minutes!"

The family arrived at Eastern Valley Train Station at 12: 46 PM, three minutes before Express Train X017BB35, a.k.a. "The Balrog" was set to leave platform. They all exited the car, and their father popped the trunk and pulled out a rather largish pink backpack with Green Slime and Sakura Celion stickers all over it. "Sis, that is the ugliest backpack ever!" William stared at it in utter disdain. "Yeah, well, you don't look so good yourself," she retorted. Her father handed her the backpack. "Ah, be careful on your trip. You know that no matter what, you'll always be able to come back home. Take care, sweetheart." He kissed her on her forehead. "Awww, Dad, geeze! PEOPLE are watching!" Her father giggled, "I love you, too."

Her mother was next to say her good-byes; as expected, she broke out into a total hysteria. "MY BABY! MY SWEET GIRL!" She wrapped her arms around her daughter and squeezed her tightly; rivers of tears streamed down her face. Everyone in the car park turned around to look in their direction. "MOM! NO! You're making a SCENE! It's not that bad! I'll be fine...but I have to go!" Her mother would not listen, but loosened her stricture a bit. "Oh, I hope we prepared you for this! You're not ready to go yet..." She was cut off, and her daughter spoke more abrasively. "Mom, I'm seventeen years old! I can handle this. You and Dad taught me everything I need to know. Please, Mom, I have like...a minute!" She struggled free, but gave her mother a kiss on the cheek and returned the hug.

She turned to her little brother, gave a quick nod and said, "Midget." He gave a quick head nod, too, and replied with, "Ogre." She laughed and ruffled his hair with her hand, to which he grimaced. She bent down and kissed him on his forehead. "Aaaah," he screamed, "are you trying to make me kill you?" She laughed again and said, "so, you DID learn SOMETHING from me, after all. You are 'The Bull Dozer' until I get back, OK, shrimp?" She gave them all one more good-bye, and turned to walk to Platform 00X, when her father called her once more.

"Oh, I almost forgot to give you something special me and your mother got you a week ago. That is why we stopped at Mrs. Kermith's house on the way here." He turned back to the trunk of the car and fidgeted for a bit. "ALL ABOOOARD!" The conductor was giving the last thirty-second boarding call for all passengers. "Dad, hurry! I gotta go, the conductor just gave Last Call!" Her father pulled out of the trunk in a jerk (and hit his head with enough force to leave him with a knot on his head for the next week-and-a-half) with a large cardboard box in his hands. He set it down on the ground, opened the top (which had air holes in it) and pulled out a small fuzzy thing. "Here is a..."

"A PUPPY HUSKY!!" She screamed at the top of her lungs. She raced over to her father, took the small gray and black Husky with a red ribbon around it's neck from her father, slung the backpack over her shoulder, and raced for the now-in-motion train. She turned back, still running, and waved to her family, puppy under arm. She had only just reached the train and was climbing aboard when William felt he had something more to say. He raced to the platform and stood outside the passenger car his sister was in, and tried to get her attention. She saw him from the nearest window, and moved quickly to open it to hear what he had to say.

"Billy, what are you doing, the train is pulling off!" The train was no longer lurching forward, but was not at a crawl; and before it had even really began to crawl, it had shifted to jogging pace. "I know you're going on this big life-changing experience and all, but-could you bring me back some presents?" He was jogging beside the train now, and the train was moving ever faster. "A souvenir," she asked. "Sure, kid, I'll bring you back loads of stuff...just don't go in my room while I'm gone!"

He could no longer keep up with the train, and the terminal itself had only a few feet left. She was still saying something to him, but the clang of the gear work and the hiss of the steam drowned it out, along with the distance she was away from him. He could see, just barely, that she had tears in her eyes. She stuck her head out of the window and blew him a kiss. She was moving away ever faster; this gave him only one chance to speak his final piece. With all the power he could muster, he took a deep breath and yelled out, "Goodbye, Erica!"

He was absolutely SURE that she had heard him. He headed back to his parents in the car park. They all loaded into the car once more and drove off as the smoke and steam of Express Train X017BB35, a.k.a. "The Balrog," dissipated behind the locomotive in the distance.


	3. Chapter 3: Rogue To Be

"Another boring day…in the dirtiest city…on this drab little island…"

These were the words of one particularly disgruntled young man who stood outside the Tyrexxus Building in the heart of Kerning City. No one seemed to hear him-or at least cared what he said-as they passed him by on the busy and congested sidewalks.

It was around late-noon, 1:45 P.M. to be exact. The breeze was blowing, gentle, humid and balmy. The cloudless sky (an extreme rarity in Kerning, as smog and overcast usually rule the skies on any given day) exemplified the sun, and rays of blue and yellow reflected mightily off of the skyscraper windows.

"Yes…another boring, dull, drab, pitiful day…" He sighed, closed his chestnut eyes and swept his burnt sienna hair from in front of his face. He leaned back, placing his back against the building's wall, and crossed his right leg in front of the left. A rather peculiar-looking businessman who seemed _too_ engrossed with a conversation on his cell phone passed him by while he was shifting his body's position.

He smiled to himself, never opening his eyes. The businessman had only just barely passed him when he made his move.

He deftly and quietly reached into the man's back pants pocket with his left hand and pulled out a set of keys. Twirling the keys on his index finger by the key ring, he tossed them into the air and caught them with his right hand-the keys never even jangled. Using his now-free left hand, he then reached into the man's side pants pocket and pulled out a leather, metal-backed wallet.

Quickly, and through touch alone, he found a smallish key with seven teeth, and inserted it into a hole on the metal backing of the wallet. With a single move he twisted the key, opened a clasp in the metal backing, pulled out several thin and rectangular paper bills, closed the clasp, extracted the key, and placed both the keys and the wallet back in their respective pockets.

The businessman never noticed, nor broke his conversation or stride in the half-a-foot distance he had covered during this event. Satisfied, the young man stuck the wad of about 300 mesos in his right pants pocket. A small, mischievous smile formed on his face; he relaxed again, and let the sun bake him.

[-**-**-]

The Tyrexxus building is the center of commerce, trade, and all things industrial and economical in Kerning. Not only does it control the import/export end of over 82% of all goods entering or exiting Victoria Island, it is the very _foundation_ on which Kerning stands. Communication, goods, jobs-even civil services- are all contributed by this major company. It is also the tallest of all skyscrapers in Kerning. To many, it is a source of life.

The President, C.E.O. and Founder of the company is one Mr. Elias N.D. Ark . Philanthropist, eccentric genius, Maple Street money wizard and reclusive bachelor, he is known worldwide. Women (though none have ever met him personally) love him. He has been featured six times in _Maple Street Journal_, and three times in _Celebrity Live_.

But what does all of this have to do with the damned story? This isn't about some rich dude and his adoring fans aplenty! Well…there is more, if you really want to hear it. You do? Well, o.k. But don't say the truth tastes like gym socks once you start biting!

Mr. Ark was loved, yeah, true. The Kerning City Police Department and the M.B.I., however, didn't seem to view him through rose-colored glasses. Extensive searches into his bank account and taxes (which Mr. Ark willingly gave up with a kind smile) turned up nothing. However, it was also suspected that he had many other subsidiary companies, and that Tyrexxus was part of a larger, darker syndicate. A mere Front Corporation to hide any illegal activity.

After two years of searching federal file after federal file, the M.B.I. gave up and returned to HQ. The K.P.D. also gave up, as their hands were full daily with thugs, petty smugglers and regular old unskilled Rogues.

In reality, Ark was the head of a world wide organization called Dark Sight. Not necessarily criminal, but definitely all Rogues and Vigilantes. His name, Elias N.D. Ark, was an alias he took on when he actually showed up to Tyrexxus on rare occasions, or had interviews that required his personal interaction. Having PhDs in both Law and Business, he was able to hide the funds he allocated for several subsidiary buildings recently bought by him for the purpose of Dark Sight.

His real name was Ryu "Yoshi" Kojima. Most people knew him as "Dark Lord." There was really no need to hide his identity, as he was one of the Four Great Heroes of Victoria; who would condemn him? And no-one (not even his own mother!) knew what his face looked like-yet he was compelled to keep both of his identities secret and separate from one-another to the public.

But what does all this have to do with the young lad in the opening of the chapter, you ask? Well, the young man whom we encountered was none other than Nox Palvit Bartholomew Kojima, second cousin of Dark Lord. Today was his 16th birthday, and he was waiting outside Tyrexxus for his cousin's limo; for today, he was taking the examination to become a full-fledged, Dark Sight endorsed, armed-to-the-teeth Rogue!

It's good to have family in high places.


End file.
